NFL could pocket billions from coming boom in sports gambling

The NFL, long an opponent of legalized betting on sports, could cash in on the coming boom in sports gambling.

The league could see its annual revenue rise by $2.3 billion as legalized sports wagering spreads across the country, according to a study conducted by Nielsen for the American Gaming Association.

“Legal, regulated sports betting will create huge new revenue opportunities for sports leagues – and the NFL could be the biggest winner of all,” said Sara Slane, senior vice president for AGA.

Most of that money – about $1.4 billion – is expected to come in the form of increased rights fees, according to the study released on Wednesday . The study also expects $573 million to come from increased advertising and sponsorship deals from gambling services, as well as deals similar to the one that the NBA just signed with casino operator MGM that allowed the use of the league’s real-time data and its logos by its casinos. The NFL has yet to sign any such deal. And it expects ticket sales to bring in more than $200 million in additional revenue.

While the NFL is by far the richest sports league in the world, an increase in revenue of $2.3 billion would still be significant. The league had $8.2 billion in national revenue last season, divided evenly between the 32 teams, according to figures released by the Green Bay Packers, the only publicly-owned team. That was an increase of about 5 percent. Local revenue for all the teams brings in an additional $5 billion to $6 billion.

With the introduction of sports betting, the belief is that fans with money riding on games will be more likely to watch than they have been in the past. A previous survey by AGAfound that about 19 percent of football fans already bet on games, with most of that gambling done illegally with bookies or offshore online services. It also found that 31 percent of football fans expect to bet on games once it becomes legalized, a 60 percent increase.

The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the study.

The league was one of the organizations that fought the state of New Jersey’smove to legalize sports gambling beyond Nevada. The Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports gambling in May. New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi and West Virginia have already legalized sports gambling and other states could follow before the end of the year. The American Gaming Association estimates that within two to three years a majority of states will pass some form of sports gambling.

The NFL saw its average ratings decline about 10 percent last year in the face of controversy about player protests during the national anthem and a number of injuries that left the sport without some of its most popular stars. But the sport’s broadcasts are still attractive to networks and their advertisers since many fans want to watch them live, which limits their ability to skip past the ads shown during the game. The NFL rights deals are the richest in the industry, as the games have by far the highest ratings, even with last season’s decline.